Started my second batch of this last week. I was thinking about racking off a gallon after fermentation was done and adding some spices to it. I was thinking cinnamon stick, allspice, nutmeg, and maybe a clove. Does anyone here have any experience with any of these spices in this Graff? If so, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Started my second batch of this last week. I was thinking about racking off a gallon after fermentation was done and adding some spices to it. I was thinking cinnamon stick, allspice, nutmeg, and maybe a clove. Does anyone here have any experience with any of these spices in this Graff? If so, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

If you read through, you'll see I list how much I use, tasting notes, etc. The only thing is, this is my first time doing it, and I won't be bottling till this weekend. I'll post more tasting notes on bottling day about how it tastes coming out of the primary.

Ok, I have spent the past 3 days reading through just about every post in this Graff thread. I think it will be close to what I am looking for but have a question. Has anyone added in cinnamon & nutmeg for an apple pie flavor? I saw this asked a couple times but never any answers. Would I want to add the spices in at the boil or in the fermentation?

Ok, I have spent the past 3 days reading through just about every post in this Graff thread. I think it will be close to what I am looking for but have a question. Has anyone added in cinnamon & nutmeg for an apple pie flavor? I saw this asked a couple times but never any answers. Would I want to add the spices in at the boil or in the fermentation?

See my post above yours.

I wouldn't necessarily say I was going for "apple pie," but I'm sure it'll come out something like that. I put my spices into primary because it's a 1 gallon test batch, and I wanted the other 4 gallons to be the regular recipe.

I wouldn't necessarily say I was going for "apple pie," but I'm sure it'll come out something like that. I put my spices into primary because it's a 1 gallon test batch, and I wanted the other 4 gallons to be the regular recipe.

Check out the thread I posted.

Thanks! I just checked that out. Thinking that this might be the weekend for me to do some experimenting :-)

I've made a few batches of this stuff by now and have to say I was never very happy with it. Honestly, over time it seems most cider becomes quite acidic if a malo-lactic fermentation never takes place. All that malic acid makes for a pretty unpalatable beverage in my experience. I suppose if you make this stuff, ferment it quickly, fine it quickly, keg it quickly, ( NOT BOTTLE CONDITIONING), and drink it quickly it could be great. but that's all I can see....this seems like a drink that should made and drank quickly, it doesn't seem to age well. take it for what it's worth.

I have some 16oz bottles sitting around that are damned near a year old and they just taste like super dry, tart, acidic champagne made out of apple juice. I always used the best top notch cider I could get my hands on, and yes, it was pasteurized. The last batch I used the West Yorkshire, ( Timothy Taylor), yeast. Still wound up at 0.990. I'd love to try a bottle of this from someone who says it doesn't wind up all chalky, dry and tart though.